In most of his movies, Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s preferred method of dealing with problems is to destroy them — either with his powerful fists or with the aid of some fancy firearms. But it appears he’s taking an entirely different approach in Maggie.

The TIFF drama stars Schwarzenegger as a Midwestern farmer whose darling daughter (Abigail Breslin) has fallen prey to a zombie epidemic sweeping the nation. As the disease takes its hold, he stays loyally by her side. Get your first look at Schwarzenegger in Maggie after the jump.

TIFF debuted the Maggie images in advance of the film’s festival premiere next month.

It’s not difficult to imagine the premise of Maggie leading to lots of pun-tastic Schwarzenegger-on-zombie fight scenes. However, the first Maggie photos suggest Schwarzenegger will be flexing his dramatic muscles instead of his action-hero ones.

His character would probably be smart to kill Maggie before she can kill him — heck, Breslin’s own Zombieland character would likely advise him to do just that — but he looks too devastated to contemplate that course of action. It probably doesn’t help that Maggie herself looks painfully aware of what’s happening to her.

And for better or for worse, it seems father and daughter will have plenty of time to contemplate her fate. An earlier draft of the Black List script by John Scott 3 had the zombie virus taking about six weeks to run its course, though we don’t know if the specifics have changed since then.

Although plenty of zombie tales feature a scene in which the protagonist watches a loved one get infected, Maggie may be the only one that turns that scene into the whole movie. All in all, it looks like a uniquely intimate take on a genre that more often lends itself to sprawling journeys and epic battles.

Maggie is the feature directorial debut of Henry Hobson, who has worked mainly on titles and end credits. No word yet on when it’ll hit U.S. theaters.